Press conference to be held in Sydney ahead of rallies in defence of Assange

By
our reporters
11 June 2018

The following release has been issued by the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), notifying the media of a press conference in Sydney on Wednesday, June 13.

NOTICE OF PRESS CONFERENCE: TURNBULL GOVERNMENT IS OBLIGATED TO PROTECT JOURNALIST AND AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN JULIAN ASSANGE

June 11, 2018

The Turnbull government must act now to secure WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange’s right to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London and return to Australia, with guaranteed protection from extradition to the US.

A demonstration will be held on Sunday, June 17 at 1:00 p.m. in Sydney Town Hall Square. Journalist John Pilger and Socialist Equality Party (SEP) national secretary James Cogan will demand that the Australian government meet its obligations to protect Assange, as it did for Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste.

James Cogan will be available at a press conference on Wednesday, June 13, at 11:00 a.m. in central Sydney, to answer questions.

On December 15, 2010, Australian media editors and journalists issued a statement condemning US threats to charge Assange and WikiLeaks as “a serious threat to democracy,” which “relies on a free and fearless press.”

On June 23, 2012, the ABC’s “Four Corners” broadcast a damning exposure of the politically motivated character of a Swedish investigation into allegations that Assange had committed sexual offences.

Assange sought political asylum with Ecuador on June 19, 2012, under conditions where the Australian government failed to protect him.

Assange now faces the greatest danger. His health has been deeply compromised after six years of what the UN has labelled “arbitrary detention.” On March 28, his right to communicate with the outside world was cut off by the Ecuadorian government, under pressure from Washington.

The Australian government is obligated, under international and national law, to defend its citizen against persecution and unjust treatment.

The demonstration on Sunday June 17 will hold successive Australian governments to account for their complicity in the violation of freedom of the press, freedom of speech and the human rights of Julian Assange. Millions of Australians, along with people around the world, recognise the importance of the exposures published by WikiLeaks. The Turnbull government must now act.